Rutanian Baseball Association
UNDER CONSTRUCTION The Rutanian Baseball Association (RBA) is the highest level of professional baseball in Rutania as well as the oldest professional sports league in the country. The league is comprised of two conferences, the Northern League (NL) and Southern League (SL) and features twenty teams that play 162 games each season which culminates in the Fall Classic, a best-of-seven championship series between the two league champions. Baseball broadcasts are aired throughout Artania and the world and can be seen on television as well as the radio and internet. The RBA has the highest season attendance of the three major sports leagues in the country. =History= The Rutanian Baseball Association was founded in the year 2320 and had its first season in the year 2327 and immediately it was a major hit with the people of Rutania with games almost filling 100% capacity. Baseball was named Rutania's sport 15 years later and has remained so. In 3689, baseball was renamed the country's Summer Sport. There has been 1364 seasons so far lasting over 1300 years. =League Organization= The RBA is governed by a set of laws, agreed to by both the players and owners during each collective bargaining agreement, the most recent in 3688. The RBA is headed by a Commissioner who serves as the Chief Executive of the league and serves at the pleasure of both the owners and the players. The RBA has both a players union which collectively bargains for the players. The RBA operates the RBA Network, a television station that is owned by the league (60%) and each of the twenty teams (40%). The RBA has no salary cap whatsoever, however there is revenue sharing, meaning all profits generated are split up between each team with the teams drawing the most money giving up more and the teams drawing the less giving up less. =Season Structure= Regular Season The current RBA regular season consists of 162 games per team, which typically begins on the first Sunday in April and ends on the first Sunday in October. Each team's schedule is organized typically into 3-game series, with occasional two- or four-game series.Postponed games or continuations of suspended games can result in an ad hoc one-game or five-game series. A team's series are organized into homestands and road trips that group multiple series together. Teams generally play games five to seven days per week, commonly having Monday or Thursday as an off day. Frequently, games are scheduled at night. Sunday games are generally played during the afternoon, allowing teams to travel to their next destination prior to a Monday night game. In addition, teams will play day games frequently on holidays and getaway days. With only 20 teams in the league , it is necessary for all teams to participate in interleague play for most days in the season, except when two or more teams have a day off. Each team plays 62 interleague games throughout the season, usually with just one interleague game per day, but for one weekend in late May all teams will participate in an interleague series. Over the course of a season, teams compete for one of the five playoff berths in their league. They can win one of these berths by either winning their division, or by capturing a wild card spot. After the conclusion of the 162-game season, an additional tie-breaking game (or games) may be needed to determine postseason participation. Postseason When the regular season ends after the first Sunday in October (or the last Sunday in September), ten teams enter the postseason playoffs. These ten teams consist of six teams that are division champions by earning the best regular season overall win-loss record for their respective divisions, and four who are "wild-card" teams that are each one of two teams in their respective leagues who have earned the best regular season win-loss record, but are not division champions. Four rounds of series of games are played to determine the champion: *'Wild Card Game', a one-game playoff between the two wild-card teams in each league. *'Northern League Division Series and Southern League Division Series', each a best-of-five-games series. *'Northern League Championship Series and Southern League Championship Series', each a best-of-five-games series played between the surviving teams from the NLDS and SLDS. The league champions are informally referred to as the NL and SL pennant winners. *'Fall Classic', a best-of-seven-games series played between the pennant winners of each league. =Teams= The RBA is divided into two conferences, the Northern League (NL) and Southern League (SL), with 10 teams to each for a total of 20 teams. Each conference has three divisions, East, Central and West with 3 teams in two divisions and 4 teams in one division. An All-Star game played between the NL and SL in late July is used to determine who gets home field advantage in the Fall Classic. Not all cups are listed because some teams have not been around since the creation and are newer. =Links= Sports in Rutania Culture of Rutania Rutania Category:Rutania